The embodiments herein relate generally to utensils that can be used to transfer food ingredients from a source location of the ingredients to a container for the ingredients. Of course, the embodiments of the invention herein may also be used to transfer other non-food items including animal and livestock feed, specimens, science materials, fertilizers, seeds, etc.
Utensils and other devices that have been used to transfer ingredients have been inconsistent at transferring without spilling the ingredients. For instance, when using a scooper to transfer a supply of various ingredients into a narrow opening of a container, a person might choose a scooper with a large scoop to maximize the supply of ingredients being transferred for each scoop. Yet with a narrow opening for the container, the person must be ultra-careful pouring the ingredients into the container, lest some of the ingredient supply will spill over the sides of the container. This is problematic for those who need to quickly transfer ingredients without spilling.
Some ingredient transferring utensils have used a scoop with a funnel to feed the small opening of a container. Yet, some of the supply of the ingredients typically ends of spilling over the sides of the scoop or simply as a result of a person's jittery hand movement while holding the scoop. Ultimately, this leaves a mess that requires additional work for the person transferring the ingredients. Moreover, the use of a funnel on one or the other side of a scoop leads inevitably to some ingredients being spilled. For example, an athlete may attempt to add protein powder to a bottle of water, yet the opening of the water bottle may be approximately the diameter of a thumb, and thus, simply trying to fit a side funnel in the opening while dumping the protein powder down the funnel is highly challenging. Thus, great care must be employed while transferring ingredients to containers with small openings, even when a funnel is used along the side of the scoop.
Prior art scooping utensils have not been able to solve the problems with transferring ingredients into containers with small openings. United States Patent Application Publication 2009/0107581 discloses a device with a scoop and a funnel with no cover for the ingredients in the scoop and no fold-over of the funnel to cover the scoop. U.S. Pat. No. 6,971,056 discloses an apparatus with a top cup and bottom funnel with ingredients in the bottom that are shaved off by sliding the top over the bottom. United States Patent Application Publication 2008/0099512 discloses a device for measuring, transferring, and dispersing a liquid or powder substance but does not have fold-over covering of the substance.
Thus, what is needed is a utensil that includes a scooper and a funnel that fold-over to cover ingredients in the scooper in order to provide scooping ability and reduce ingredient spillage.